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Problem: During one of my main master's degree projects, I faced the challenge of collaborating with team members from diverse social circles and one specific team member who was underperforming and hindering our productivity and teamwork.
Anticipated consequence: Without effective leadership and intervention, the team's divergence might have led to project failure and missed deadlines.
Role: As a team member, I took the initiative to increase collaboration, improve productivity and get the project done.
Action: two main things I had to tackle to create a more productive and effective team were; (1) collaboration (2) Motivation.
To tackle collaboration I used two methods:
Online project management and collaboration tools I learned to use from some technical professors (Trello, Miro, Google Drive). Therefore, we could track tasks, collaborate on brainstorming exercises, and edit collaborative documents in real-time.
However, I knew that these online tools were no replacement to getting our team to work together on the project together. To tackle this I started by opening up speaking and learning about my team members, what time to meet is most convenient and what they liked to do in their spare time. I incentivized my team by inviting them to cool locations to do work, e.g. one team member had a nice apartment building with a rooftop area where we could work. I also invited them to a board game café where we worked then played games and had food.
The second piece was more difficult to achieve as there was one specific person on the team that was pulling the team morale down, by missing meetings and not delivering on their tasks. The way that I was able to overcome this issue was by sitting next to them in class, getting to know them better, as there was a rift starting to form between them and the rest of the group, which would start to decrease their motivation to work even more. As I got to know them more and more, it got to the point where I was close enough to them to let them know that this was an issue first and what we could do to help them to complete their tasks.
As a result, they feel heard, we are a team trying to do well together and he is part of the team, and the person even joined us more frequently towards the second half of the semester when we really had to strap in and get the job done.
End result: Our team dynamics improved significantly, leading to enhanced productivity, effective teamwork, and successful project outcomes. The project was completed successfully, showcasing the positive impact of overcoming social differences through collaboration and leadership.
This question is a part of McKinsey personal fit Leadership dimension. Here it’s important to focus on a few things while telling your story:
Best,
Daniel
Near 5 months ago, the startup where I used to work had a little financial crisis and with it we lost some employees. One of them was responsible for an entire area of product development. Even without the complete knowledge, I assumed the area, trained and turned to be a potential in which the board wanted to keep for the future of the company.
Ja, wir mussten eine ausgelaufene Vertragsbeziehung, welche mit der notwendigen Abrechnungsgrundlage hoher Preise einhergeht, rückgängig machen um Erlöse pro Tag zu sichern. Nebenbei mussten wir in der direkten Implementierung einer neuen Station beim Mandantn vor Ort helfen und ein neues Mandat konzeptionieren.
needed to achieve an important goal
I was in charge to lead team after our leader resigned 2 months after my joining date. We had to deliver the projects maintain team morale and ensure clients were not affected. I laid our regular catch ups gave my insights and experience and ensured that this difficult time is managed well.
Hello!
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Worked on project with interns
Deadline was shifted one week sooner.
Took over lead of group and tried to manage tasks efficiently and make sure we could deliver.
we had a project in school were I as president to decide over details over a event. It was messy but ultimately we came together as a team and suceeded in implementing it
Kill them all
deliver results during prime day throughout different time zones and ongoing negotiations
Yes, I led a team through my MIS class. I allocated deliverables and task for each group mate and led them to get an A grade on the final!
